Beneath the Vault of Stars, Chapter I, Section 1, as audio

While trying to gain exposure for Beneath the Vault of Stars (BVS), people say they’d love an audiobook version. Cool. Without trying to sound prideful, people also say I have a good speaking voice. I have no idea what goes into producing a bona fide audiobook, but since I have access to some modest recording equipment, I took a crack at recording the first part of Chapter I from BVS. No embellishments, no sound effects, no…nothing, really: it’s just me behind a microphone.

For the curious: I’m using an old Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 for an audio interface and a Shure SM27 mic. A kind neighbor let me borrow a horseshoe-shaped “acoustic shield” to help deaden reflected noise. I move my guitar—that’s right, the one I haven’t learned how to play!—into the hall before firing everything up. (I hear its reverberations every time I sneeze!) I’m trying to plan out something of a poor man’s “audio closet” for future recording sessions, but it’s still missing a few items. And my “office” is pulling double duty as a work area/storage space.

It’s just over eight minutes for roughly 1500 words: the whole book is a few hundred words over 116,000, which means an average runtime of ten hours, twenty minutes. (If my math is correct!) I’m not sure if producing a full-fledged audiobook is a realistic goal, but I’m interested in people’s thoughts. Who would rather listen than read? (I think I’d rather read, but I know some people like queuing up audiobooks during their commutes, for example.)

This is just an experiment for now. If no one appreciates it, that’s fine: it’s good to get the idea out of my mind and into a series of ones and zeroes. If people do like what they hear, I’ll have to research best practices for audiobooks and see what my options are. And figure out how to record over ten hours without stressing my voice box! Then there’s out takes, and editing, and…yeah, this could take a while! Thanks for listening!